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          Benefits and Connectivity
        
        
          Trails provide numerous benefits regarding health,
        
        
          transportation, ecology, recreation, and the fiscal environment.
        
        
          The direct beneficiary is the trail user, who in turn, indirectly
        
        
          creates a beneficial connection to the local or regional economy.
        
        
          Montgomery County invested years to plan and determine the
        
        
          feasibility of creating a regional trail network that highlights its
        
        
          ability to connect to places of interest and employment centers.
        
        
          Connectivity is the foundation of the county’s proposed trail
        
        
          system and the primary goal for implementing the
        
        
          recommendations in the comprehensive plan.  The higher
        
        
          connectivity rate of local and regional trails, the greater the
        
        
          enhancement of direct  and indirect benefits to the users and
        
        
          community.
        
        
          Over 60% of trail users that responded to the
        
        
        
        
          & Economic Impact Analysis and Schuylkill
        
        
          River Trail 2009 User Survey & Economic Impact Analysis
        
        
          reported an annual average of $400 spent on hard goods
        
        
          (bicycle purchase; bike supplies) and an average of $10 spent on
        
        
          soft goods (beverage; meal) per person, per trip.